Everton 3 - Southampton 1: No way it's a Kevin Mirallas blip

IF THE general perception is that Eden Hazard has enjoyed a seamless adaptation to life in the Premier League, with little catching him unawares, then Kevin Mirallas is happy to set the record straight.

The Everton striker is in regular contact with his Belgium international team-mate, and while Hazard expected to be peering down at his rivals from on high with Chelsea, it was not David Moyes’ side he thought would be looming into view.

This dismantling of Southampton propelled Everton into second place and maintained an impressive start that is not simply turning heads at Goodison Park but, seemingly, at Stamford Bridge as well.

“Eden and I do speak and we have a bit of a joke,” said Mirallas, whose own acclimatisation following a £5.3million move from Olympiakos is proving swift – his fingerprints were all over two of Everton’s goals here.

“He says that it is normal service resumed for Chelsea to be on top and he laughs at the fact Everton are now in second.

He says, ‘What are you doing there?’ We have been having a laugh about it

Kevin Mirallas

“He says, ‘What are you doing there?’ We have been having a laugh about it.

“Seriously, though, he does appreciate the way we are playing. Eden sees that we are doing well and he thinks it’s fully deserved that we are so high in the table because of the good style of play we are putting in each week.”

Highlighting the swagger with which Everton are currently performing is important, because it strips away the misplaced view that Moyes is somehow a cautious manager.

Instead, Everton have carefully evolved under his leadership to the point where, with Nikica Jelavic picking up where he left off last season, with a well-taken double to add to Leon Osman’s equaliser here, they pose a considerable threat.

“Some of the performances last season we struggled and I told the players I was bored watching them,” said Moyes.

“I could never say that now. The question we were wondering with Jelavic was how would he be in this second season? “But he has started fine. We need him. You look at him in the box and he comes alive. You almost think, ‘Boy oh boy, he has taken a magic pill’.

“I do think that with Mirallas and Jelavic, you are seeing Everton with a greater scoring threat than we have ever had before.”

Yet still the job Moyes has done is taken for granted. The other argument that the Scot needs silverware to somehow legitimise his 10-year reign at Goodison is frequently aired – Neville Southall being the latest to do so.

But that is far too simplistic.

The only managers outside England’s elite – Liverpool and Manchester City are included as old and new powers – to have won domestic trophies since Moyes arrived at Goodison Park are Steve McClaren, Juande Ramos, Harry Redknapp and Alex McLeish. Two of these men have found themselves reduced to ridicule, two are out of work and three of the four clubs – Portsmouth, Birmingham and Middlesbrough – are now residing in football’s backwaters.

Ask Southampton manager Nigel Adkins which club he regards as a role model – and Everton would be among the first on his list.

Had Jay Rodriguez not spurned a glorious chance five minutes after Gaston Ramires had capitalised on Tim Howard’s error to head the visitors in front, then more twists may have ensued.

“It has been highlighted in the games up to now,” said Adkins. “When you analyse all of the goals that you concede, you can always do better. But we’re playing against top-level players now. We believe that we can score and, here, we have scored once again. But we have got to give ourselves an opportunity to go and win these matches. And if we can’t achieve a victory , at least get a point from the game.”

Everton may not finish runners-up at the end of the season, but they will play in Europe next season.

Above and beyond that, they are a proper football club with proper values, for which owner Bill Kenwright also deserves credit for instilling, given that it is 12 months since he was accused of letting Everton stagnate.

And while it is easy to now pat Kenwright on the back, that should not detract from the fact that the point is still worth making.